Airmen with the Alaska Air National Guard's 210th, 211th and 212th Rescue Squadrons rescued three individuals Aug. 6 who were hiking in the Denali National Park.
According to the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, the mission was opened in response to a report of a 406-MHZ personal locator beacon.
An HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter from the 210th Rescue Squadron and an HC-130J Combat King II from the 211th Rescue Squadron were launched from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Aboard the helicopter was a Guardian Angel team from the 212th Rescue Squadron.
Guardian Angel teams are highly trained medical personnel made up of a pararescueman and a combat rescue officer who both specialize in conducting high-risk rescue missions.
After receiving report of the PLB, the AKRCC tasked Air Guardsmen to respond to the event. The helicopter flew to the location of the hikers, rescued them and flew them to back to JBER. The HC-130 air-to-air refueled the HH-60G multiple times during the mission.
For this mission, the 210th, 211th and 212th Rescue Squadrons were awarded three saves.
